I'll Always See You
by InLoveWithNateBuzolic
Summary: What if Klaus died while in New Orleans...how would Caroline take it. This is a one-shot. Caroline's journey after Klaus's death. Can she find her Always and Forever...read on to find out.


**Hey guys, now…imagine Klayley never happened and after Klaus saved Caroline from Alaric, they became friends and started hanging out.**

Bonnie and Caroline were lying on the couch in their dorm room watching The Notebook when Bonnie tensed, Caroline paused the film and turned to look at her friend,

"Bon? What's wrong?" She asked gently.

"Someone old and powerful just died, I can feel it, and they'll be here to pass through in a minute or two." She whispered.

"Oh! OK, do you need anything? Can I do anything?" Caroline asked nervously, this would be her first time witnessing someone passing through bonnie.

"Just...hold my hand and be you!" She said, genuinely.

"OK" Caroline nodded.

Bonnie sat, tense, waiting for the person to appear, and when they did tears gathered in her eyes...if he was dead then that meant they would all die!

"Don't tell her it's me yet, not until I explain some things to you, okay?" The voice asked.

Bonnie nodded "firstly, the bloodline was severed as soon as I arrived in New Orleans. I knew I would encounter trouble and couldn't very well go into battle without knowing if I could keep her safe from my war. Secondly, I know you have never liked me, but could you pass on a message to her please?" The person asked, his voice catching in his throat, again Bonnie nodded.

"Thank you, can you tell her I'm here?" They asked.

Bonnie turned to Caroline, who watched her curiously.

"The person who died is here, he wants me to pass on a message to you." Bonnie said gently.

"Me, why me? I don't know anyone old and powerf-" the words died in her throat as one face came to mind.

Tears gathered in her eyes as she stared at Bonnie, willing it to be a lie.

"Please tell me it's not him?" She begged.

"I'm sorry Care! But...it is him" she whispered.

A sob forced its way up her throat as the words settled in her brain.

"You promised!" She whispered into thin air "you promised me a thousand birthdays and the view of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower, you lied Klaus" she chocked.

Tears rolled down his face as he watched Caroline cry "I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm so sorry, but..." He trailed off and looked at Bonnie who seemed stunned by his show of emotions "tell her everything I say, word for word!" He cried, as she nodded and started talking.

"You can still have all those things love, the music, the art, the beauty, and when you do I'll be right there with you. I promise you, in a thousand years when you've seen all the world has to offer and have grown sick of this earth, I'll be waiting, right here for you to join me, okay? And I need you to do something for me. Do you remember the necklace I gave you before I left?" And as Bonnie repeated his words, Caroline laughed, despite her tears, as she pulled a necklace from under her shirt and displayed it against her chest.

Klaus continued "do you remember me explaining every charm?"

Caroline nodded, after Bonnie said the words "yes, you explained the heart, the pencil, the book, the aeroplane and the Eiffel Tower, but not the key. You said I would find out when the time came." She whispered.

"Well, now is that time, sweetheart. I need you to call Elijah and ask him to do you a favour on my behalf. Tell him to go to my bedroom and in the safe, he's to retrieve the Charles Reni Macintosh box from it and give it to you, the key opens the box" he whispered, his voice full of emotion "it's my time to go now sweetheart" he stood from his invisible perch in front of her, pausing to place a gentle kiss on her forehead "I'll always see you. I love you Caroline Forbes, never forget that." He whispered gently, waiting for Bonnie to translate.

Caroline had been reduced to a sobbing mess at Klaus's words "I love you too" she managed to choke out before she fled the room.

Klaus had a barrage of tears rolling down his cheeks at the sight of her, he turned to Bonnie "could you possible contact my brother and sister and tell them not to punish themselves for my death? It wasn't their fault I got caught off guard by Marcel tonight." Bonnie nodded, and decided to speak to him for the first time.

"You know she really does love you, she told me and Stefan about you and her and I know she can't even think about loving anyone else. And I also want to say that your brother, Kol, is waiting for you."

Klaus nodded, "thank you, Bonnie. And, please make sure someone calls Elijah to give Caroline the box, and would you also tell Stefan that I'm sorry?" At Bonnie's nod, he lightly touched her shoulder, passing through to the Other Side, instantly being propelled back to New Orleans.

It was three days later that they found Caroline, she was in the Original Mansion of Mystic Falls, sitting in Klaus's bedroom, unmoving, with tear stains on her face. Damon was the first one who found her, he tried to approach her, only to be stopped by Bonnie.

Bonnie shook her head and pointed behind her. A tall, dark figure approached them, Elijah, carrying a box. He walked into the room and was almost floored by the vision that greeted him, he never fully knew how much she loved him.

"Caroline?" He whispered gently as he approached her perch. "Caroline honey, I've got something for you. It's from Niklaus." Her head snapped up as she registered the voice.

"Eli?" She asked quietly, at his nod she started sobbing "he's gone" she whispered through her sobs.

"I know little thing, I know." Elijah whispered, hurt evident in his voice. He sat down gently beside her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly to his chest.

Everyone in the room -Bonnie, Rebekah, Damon, Elena, Stefan, Jeremy and Matt - watched the exchange silently, Damon and Elena were shocked by the exchange, they didn't realise just how close she had gotten to the Original Family.

Rebekah stepped forward, her hand clenched tightly between Matt's "Caroline, sweetie? Do you want us to go?" She asked, quietly.

Caroline shook her head viciously "no" she mumbled "I just..." She trailed off, not really knowing what to say. She held out her hand to Rebekah, who took it and sat at Caroline's other side as she pulled her necklace from beneath her shirt and brought the key to the lock on the box. She took a deep breath and opened the box, as she examined the contents she burst into a fresh round of tears, laughing lightly as well.

"What is it Care?" Stefan asked gently.

She shook her head incredulous "just...stuff" she whispered as she pulled out things from within the box.

First, she pulled out a bunch of papers, secured together by ribbon at the holes punched in the outer side. She examined them carefully and realised they were their emails, the emails they shared whilst he was in New Orleans.

Next it was a picture he had sketched of the both of them dancing at his mother's ball, it was beautiful.

"What is that?" Rebekah asked quietly, fingering the paper lightly.

"It was during your mother's ball, he gave me the dress and asked me to dance" Caroline whispered.

Next, there was a copy of Beauty and the Beast on DVD which made Caroline laugh loudly, contradicting the fresh tears that appeared in her eyes. "I made him watch this once. He made some stupid remark about him being a beast who didn't deserve a beauty like me, so I made him watch this movie so he could see that he did."

In the box was a bunch of other things, whilst insignificant to most, they meant a lot to Caroline. A sketch of Caroline and Rebekah laughing at Elijah, who had a look of distaste on his face as he appraised the jeans and Henley's that she had bought him. A lily, which were Caroline's favourite flower and the last item made her sob. When Elena asked her why she was crying she produced a long necklace with an amulet hanging on it. It was gold, with an infinity symbol wrapped around a werewolf baying at the moon. She had bought him it as it had reminded her of him, unbeknown to its true origins.

"I bought him it months ago. I found it on a whim as I walked passed a jewellers in Richmond, I reminded me of him and I thought it was perfect for him...the eternal werewolf, but when I gave him it he was speechless, it took him about ten minutes to explain why. It was the symbol for the pack his birth father belonged to, and I didn't even know." She shrugged.

Everyone sat and watched as Caroline poured over everything with new eyes, only Bonnie knew that there were two extra people in the room with them.

"Bonnie?" Klaus said quietly "see over there, behind that side table? There's a hatch in the wall, open it." He whispered.

Everyone turned to look at Bonnie as she walked over to the far side of the room. When she opened the hatch in the wall she found letters, addressed to Elijah, Rebekah, Caroline and much to his surprise, Stefan.

The letters were apologies for his centuries of wrong doings, declarations of love and a promise...a promise that if he ever found a way back to the land of the living he would give all his schemes up. The hybrids, New Orleans and the doppelganger...he would give it all up for family and for Caroline.

Elijah, Rebekah and Stefan were shocked at his letters but Caroline wasn't, all she did was laugh and say rather smugly "I told you that one day you would admit it" then she cried again as she realised that he was dead and that the words "I love you" were spoken to his siblings through a letter.

When everyone left, Caroline decided to stay "I can't right now. I can't leave here, it feels like I'm giving up" she sobbed. Everyone nodded in understanding, especially his siblings, who had decided to stay.

The rest of the gang, including Elijah and Rebekah, gathered in the Boarding House to discuss how to help Caroline.

"I feel like an idiot" Elena whispered.

"Why?" Rebekah asked. The relationship between the blonde Original and the Mystic Falls gang had gotten better since Matt and herself started dating.

"I knew she had feelings for him, I asked her about it and she downplayed it. I feel like an idiot for not seeing it sooner, I can't believe it, I'm a horrible friend." She whispered.

"No you're not" Stefan replied "she didn't want to tell you or Damon in case you hated her. She told me because I was his friend. She told Matt because of Rebekah and the only reason Bonnie and Jeremy knew is because Kol found it hilarious and told them."

"Kol?" Damon asked, amused.

"Yeah" Jeremy replied "he likes to pop in from time to time to annoy us, for old times' sake, or something like that."

"Yeah, I can understand that...I'd probably do the same" Damon joked.

"We have to help her?" Elena stressed.

"We can't, the only person that can help her is Klaus" Bonnie shrugged, then looked to her right, and stared intently into the air.

"No!" She shouted, and jumped to her feet "someone go get Caroline. NOW!" She screamed, making Elijah and Stefan flash away.

"Klaus just came to me" she said through tears "he was watching Caroline and saw her holding a stake to her chest. She was telling him she couldn't do it." She sniffed "Klaus said she has to be compelled not to turn it off...that's it."

A few moments later Elijah and Stefan arrived with an unconscious Caroline in their arms.

"We had to snap her neck" Stefan explained.

When she awoke, Rebekah compelled Caroline to never turn her emotions off.

A few months later and Caroline was still in a state of in between, one minute she would be laughing with her friends then the next moment she would start crying stating that she missed him.

Caroline could barely hold on anymore, she missed him so much and there was only so much heartbreak one person could take. Her heart ached for him and killing herself to join him on the Other Side seemed like the only solution to her pain, but Bonnie always materialised whenever she went hunting for a stake. She started to distance herself from life itself, she barley consumed blood and rarely spoke. Klaus was at breaking point, he had spent every minute of his time in Caroline's presence, watching over her as she slowly broke.

Kol, who always remained emotionless, couldn't help but shed tears at the sight of his strong big brother and his little mate break at their separation, it seemed endless. He wanted to help, but couldn't, there was nothing he could do to ease the pain of the two.

Six months after his death, Caroline picked herself up and started a mission. She brought it upon herself to let the world see Klaus the way she saw him.  
She sorted through his paintings, and took one to a gallery in each of his favourite places; Paris, Tokyo, Japan, London, New Orleans and Edinburgh.

She went to Paris, Tokyo and Japan like he promised...but she went on her own. She visited New Orleans where she met a woman by the name of Camille, who turned out to be Klaus's friend. She was dating one of Klaus's vampires and had helped Klaus with information regarding Marcel. She knew who Caroline was "he spoke about you...all the time. He always said he would make this city safe for you and his siblings. When Marcel killed him all the factions: the humans, werewolves, vampires and witches, band together and killed Marcel and his army. It was all we could do for Klaus...make his city safe for you." She nodded towards a gathering in the back of the bar, a group of mixed creatures who were staring at her.

A young witch, Davina, approached Caroline "I have something for you" she said, asking Caroline to follow her and her friend Josh.  
Klaus had left in Davina's possession a journal. It was Klaus's journal starting from the day he had met Caroline until the day he died.

"How?" Caroline asked, dumfounded.

Davina shrugged "I don't really know. All he said was, if the time ever came I was to give this to you so you could understand the depth of his feelings for you." Davina explained, offering a hug to the young blonde.

Caroline stayed in New Orleans, looking after his city for him. The French Quarter looked up to Caroline, but they understood that she was no ruler...no she was a queen, and she nurtured and ruled the quarter for Klaus, not against him. She truly believed he would come back to her.

7 years after his death, Caroline received a call, the Other Side was falling apart and Bonnie would be going with it, but if they could find a strong enough witch, they could do a spell allowing some people to cross back over. Davina volunteered to do the spell, since she had the most power. A group of them, led by Caroline, travelled to Mystic Falls, to bring back Klaus and try and save Bonnie.

When Caroline arrived back, everyone was shocked, not only had she grown up, she had also managed to stay the same. And with her she brought Davina, Josh, Camille, her boyfriend Thierry, a witch Gen, a few loyal vampires, and the remaining werewolves of Klaus's pack.  
Everyone was proud of the woman Caroline had become.

Davina had a solution to Bonnie's connection, after the spell to bring the others - Klaus, Kol, Lexi and Alaric - back, then she would severe Bonnie's connection to the Other Side.

When the spell started Caroline held her breathe, waiting for Klaus to return to her. Alaric came first, then Lexi and Kol. There was a few minutes of confusion before Klaus appeared. Tears immediately sprung to Caroline's eyes as she saw Klaus materialize in front of her.

"Klaus?" She asked, not wanting to believe her eyes.

Klaus's head snapped to Caroline when she spoke his name. Instead of answering, he flashed to her and grabbed her into a tight hug.

Everything else around them faded to the background as the stared into each other's eyes. They didn't see Alaric's reunion with Damon, Elena and Jeremy. They didn't see Davina save Bonnie just as the Other Side fell and they didn't see everyone watching them as they reunited.

"You're really here?" Caroline sobbed as she finally took in the sight before her.

"Yes, love. I'm here, I never really left you" Klaus replied.

Caroline made a sound somewhat in between a sob and a laugh as she flung herself into Klaus's arms and kissed him, pouring all her love into the kiss.

Everyone watched with tears in their eyes at the sight. Elijah and Rebekah stood dumbfounded, looking between Klaus and Kol as they realised they were back.

"Kol!" Rebekah squealed from Matt's arms as she flew towards Kol.

"Hi, Bekah" Kol whispered into her hair, as he held her tightly to his chest.

"Big brother" he whispered to Elijah, who still look dumbfounded.

"Kol" Elijah whispered reverently before he grabbed Kol into a bone crushing hug.

When Klaus and Caroline finally separated they looked around at everyone. Camille grabbed Klaus into a tight hug as Caroline hugged Bonnie, glad for her friend's safety.

Everyone retreated to the Boarding House to catch up on the night's events.

Klaus pulled Caroline to the side as everyone gathered in the living room.

"Sweetheart? Are you really OK?" He asked, nervousness evident in his voice.

"Yeah, now that your here, I'm better" she whispered, as she hugged him tight.

"I was with you. Since that day 7 years ago, I never left your side" he whispered.

"I know. I love you Klaus" she said, her eyes filled with love.

"I love you too sweetheart. Always and forever."

FIN


End file.
